Applications will be accepted through at least May 15, 2026, at 12:00 PM ET.

Engagement reporters do ProPublica’s signature crowdsourced investigations, using everything from callouts and tip lines to citizen-fueled science. As an engagement reporter, you’ll team up with colleagues across the country to gather evidence and receipts for hard-hitting, community-driven stories. You may also work with external partners on long- and short-term projects through our Local Reporting Network. You’ll find and reach people who have important stories to tell, figure out how to include them in the reporting process and work on journalism that could help improve their lives. You’ll likely come across more stories and new leads in the process.

Like everyone in our newsroom, our team focuses on accountability journalism and measures success by impact. We’ve worked with communities to tell thousands of people’s stories, including educators, parents, mental health providers, wildfire survivors, migrant dairy farm workers, vulnerable workers and residents living near toxic hot spots. We’ve filled information gaps with calculators, guides and letter generators. And we’ve done our best to reach people in the spaces where they gather, both online and off. This journalism has led to impact big and small, from equipping patients with better information to a promised $2 billion to fix Idaho public school buildings. 

What You’ll Do Here:

• Identify promising crowdsourcing opportunities and team up with other reporters to do investigative stories that rely on community outreach and engagement.
• Craft and manage callouts, surveys and other crowdsourcing tools for investigations. Help keep track of ProPublica’s extensive network of respondents to our previous callouts, and help reporters reengage relevant groups as reporting lines arise.
• Research communities and get to know people who live and work in the places we’re covering. Strategize methods to engage sources clearly, effectively and compassionately.
• Listen for, pitch and take the lead on service journalism opportunities, such as tools and guides.
• Review, flag and sometimes follow up on promising tips that come in through ProPublica’s newsroom tip lines. Identify themes and promising angles.
• Develop relationships with long-term community sources, such as union stewards, members of the clergy, Reddit moderators, petition managers and other local leaders.
• Collaborate with national, local and specialty reporting teams across ProPublica and in our many partner newsrooms, including through our Local Reporting Network.
• Brainstorm the biggest ideas you can imagine with a team of the most creative engagement journalists in the country. 

This job is full time and includes benefits. ProPublica is based in New York, but we’re open to remote candidates. We have offices in New York City; Washington, D.C.; Atlanta; Chicago; Phoenix; and Berkeley, California. Applicants must be eligible to work in the U.S.

The expected salary range for this position is $85,000 to $120,000.

This is a good-faith estimate of what we expect to pay for this position. The final salary figure will take into account a person’s experience, accomplishment and location. ProPublica is committed to paying its staff equitably, and these ranges should not be considered career salary limits or caps.

You Should Apply If:

• You have at least three years of journalism experience, either in reporting or an engagement-focused role. Most successful engagement reporters come from backgrounds in newsrooms, but we are open to people with skill sets from different industries.
• You’ve worked on stories that shed light on injustices and hold the powerful accountable. You don’t need to have done monthslong investigations, but you do need experience reporting. 
• You’ve got a track record of creative outreach. Perhaps you’ve run a Facebook group, optimized headlines for search, built a newsletter list or user-tested an app. Maybe you’ve produced events, A/B tested mass mailers, canvassed neighborhoods or set up a listening post. Online or off, you had a strategy and you adapted it along the way. 
• You’re an active, excellent listener and a thoughtful writer who can match your style to the occasion. You understand the difference between messaging the moderator of a Facebook group and emailing a PR person for comment.
• You’ve got a strong news sense, a keen eye for detail and the ability to connect the dots in investigations.
• You’ve got the ability to work independently and with teammates on collaborative projects. You like working with others, but you’re also proactive about finding opportunities and pushing projects forward on your own. 
• You have the patience and organizational acumen for long-term projects. You probably have opinions about spreadsheets.

This role will involve occasional travel for team retreats, conferences and reporting projects.

What You Should Send Us:

Work examples are the most important part of this application.

The application form will require you to send us three projects from your portfolio, and it will give you the space to walk us through your own contributions to those clips. Take advantage of this to tell us everything you did, from behind-the-scenes wins you’re proud of to how you helped your colleagues. Let us know how your engagement and outreach work shaped the output. Don’t be shy — tell us what succeeded, including numbers and evidence of impact, and feel free to share details on how you’d do it differently next time.

Make sure to read the section above, titled “You Should Apply If,” because it’s also our evaluation criteria for the position. Use your projects and the rest of your application to show us that you’ve got the skills we’ve listed or why the skills you have are the ones we actually need.                                    

We will begin reviewing applications as we receive them, but we will continue to consider candidates as long as the posting remains live on our site.

Questions? Send an email to talent@propublica.org. 

No phone calls, please.

ProPublica is looking for a collaborative and adaptable human resources manager to deliver strong customer service while helping to build the HR infrastructure to support a growing staff in a scaling organization.  

This role will oversee all aspects of our employee benefits strategy and programs, identify and deliver process improvements, assist on compensation and take on additional projects as needed. This is a unique moment in ProPublica’s history, when systems need to be improved to support the organization’s growth and strategy. The HR manager will need to take initiative while responding in a dynamic, evolving context.

This role will report to the human resources director, who reports to the chief financial and administrative officer. The HR manager will be joining a two-person department that supports more than 220 staff on all of our benefit programs, on- and off-boarding procedures, employee relations and performance management. The department works closely with our talent, finance and legal departments. The position will have no direct reports.

The HR manager will work closely with our HR coordinator, who is responsible for day-to-day benefit and leave administration.    

ProPublica has employees in more than 30 states (including California and New York). We have offices in New York City; Washington, D.C.; Atlanta; Chicago; Phoenix; and Berkeley, California. This role will be responsible (in collaboration with our legal department and the HR director) for ensuring all aspects of benefit-, leave- and compensation-related compliance in 30+ states. A high-level explanation of our benefits is available on our site.  

ProPublica has an employee union, and the HR director, manager and coordinator will assist in a variety of issues related to the union and in implementing the collective bargaining agreement currently being negotiated.

Specific Responsibilities

Benefits administration:

• Manage benefits renewal process, including evaluating and recommending benefits vendors as needed.  
• Working with members of the finance and HR team, play a primary role in the organizations’ benefits strategy, preparing recommendations to executive staff. 
• Lead the open enrollment process and all benefit-related staff communications throughout the year.
• Conduct market analysis to ensure ProPublica’s benefit offerings remain competitive. 
• Regularly review benefit processes; identify and implement improvements to billing, enrollment and documentation collection. 
• Drive staff benefit education. 
• Ensure 403(b) highlights document is up to date, respond to employee 403(b) queries and oversee the 403(b) hardship withdrawal and loan process.
• Within a union context, recommend competitive benefits programs that attract and retain top talent.

HR processes, compliance and customer service:

• Oversee the leave administration process. 
• Assist the HR director in responding to collective bargaining agreement or union-related inquiries.
• Ensure compliance with all applicable federal and state regulations (ERISA, ACA, COBRA, HIPAA, etc.), working with our legal department as necessary; maintain and distribute all benefit plan documents and approve appropriate filings; oversee ACA and COBRA administration, which is handled by our HR coordinator on the Paylocity and Tilt platforms.
• Oversee HR processes in Paylocity and ensure standard operating procedures are up to date.
• Ensure that employees feel supported on all benefit processes and leave administration.
• Resolve and/or provide guidance on escalated employee benefit questions issues as needed. 
• Communicate benefit details as needed to job applicants. 
• Support our compensation administration across all departments by acting as point person for managers’ compensation questions around pricing jobs and offer approvals.
• Conduct initial FLSA status determinations.

Special projects as needed, such as: 

• Transitioning our performance management process to a new platform.
• Other initiatives identified by the HR director or chief financial and administrative officer as part of evolving the HR function and building the infrastructure to support the organization's growth and scaling.

Candidate Qualifications:

Experience:

• At least five years of progressive experience in human resources, including responsibility for health benefits, 403(b) benefits and leaves of absence required. 
• Previous experience serving in an HR capacity in a unionized environment required.
• Expertise supporting an employee base across multiple states strongly preferred.
• Prior experience benchmarking compensation and benefits preferred.

Knowledge:  

• Strong knowledge of compensation and benefits regulations, including ACA, FMLA, FLSA, COBRA and applicable state laws required.
• Knowledge of software applications used in benefits and office administration, including HRIS (Paylocity a plus), Google suite and Excel required.
• Familiarity with compensation structures preferred. 
• Knowledge of self-funded and fully insured benefit structures preferred.

Skills and abilities:

• We’re looking for a detail-oriented, self-starter who has the ability to multitask, prioritize and see the big picture.
• Proven ability to perform with a high degree of accuracy required.
• Ability to own improvement projects and HR processes from end to end (defining need/opportunity, developing operating plans, implementing/executing) required.
• Ability to adjust course and adapt when presented with new information, requirements or conditions. 
• Excellent written and oral communication skills required.
• Ability to handle confidential data with integrity and proven experience making balanced, risk-aware recommendations required.
• Ability to create and give clear presentations on complicated matters relating to health benefits and pharmaceutical plans required.                              

This job is full time and includes benefits. This position is based in New York and requires in-office work at least two days a week. Applicants must be eligible to work in the U.S.

The expected salary range for this position is $110,000 to $140,000.

This is a good-faith estimate of what we expect to pay for this position. The final salary figure will take into account a person’s experience, accomplishment and location. ProPublica is committed to paying its staff equitably, and these ranges should not be considered career salary limits or caps.

We will begin reviewing applications as we receive them, but we will continue to consider candidates as long as the posting remains live on our site.

Questions? Send an email to talent@propublica.org. 

No phone calls, please.

We will be reviewing applications on a rolling basis beginning April 15, 2026. 

We are seeking a senior editor to lead ProPublica’s growing research team, guiding high-impact investigative work across the newsroom while supporting rigorous, collaborative and responsive research at scale.

The research team plays a critical role in many of ProPublica’s most impactful and widely read stories, contributing deep reporting, verification and sourcing to both long-term investigations and fast-turn accountability journalism. Research reporters regularly earn co-bylines and contributor credits across text, audio and video projects, and they collaborate closely with reporters, editors and partner newsrooms across the country.

Researchers typically balance two to three long-term projects while fielding short-term needs, providing expertise in public records, financial and government research, open-source intelligence and advanced verification.

This role reports to the assistant managing editor, national. You’ll lead ProPublica’s seven-member research team that works collaboratively across our national, local, Texas and Local Reporting Network desks.

As Senior Editor, Research, You Will: 

• Help build and maintain strong relationships with editors, reporters and partner newsrooms, ensuring research is integrated early and effectively into reporting.
• Serve as an escalation point for research reporters and newsroom staff, helping resolve complex reporting challenges, tight deadlines and sensitive sourcing or verification issues.
• Manage and prioritize newsroom projects in collaboration with senior editors and newsroom leadership, balancing urgent newsroom needs with longer-term investigative projects.
• Assign research work, shape strategy and ensure consistent, high-quality research support across desks, beats and regions.
• Provide hands-on editorial guidance to research reporters, including coaching on records strategies, advanced sourcing, database use, OSINT techniques and verification.
• Collaborate closely with reporters and editors to define research goals, frame investigations and connect the dots across large volumes of information.
• Effectively manage a substantial research resources budget, including contract   negotiations for relevant research tools and resources.
• Hire, onboard, mentor and provide performance feedback for a distributed research staff, including a deputy research editor and freelancers, as needed.
• Promote a collaborative, inclusive and supportive team culture that values rigor, curiosity and shared success.

Our Ideal Candidate Will Have: 

• At least 10 years of newsroom, investigative or research experience, with at least five years of experience managing a research team, ideally in a journalism capacity. We will prioritize candidates who have managed and supervised staff.
• Significant in-depth research experience, ideally in the investigative journalism context, but we’re also open to candidates with deep government or academic research skills that can be useful to our work. 
• Prior experience managing a budget, negotiating subscription and database contracts and serving as the contact for vendors. 
• Demonstrated ability to identify and quickly use emerging technologies and applications relevant to investigative research.
• Experience building morale and fostering professional growth in a geographically distributed team.
• Excellent communication and collaboration skills, with an appetite for working across the newsroom and with external partners. 
• Exceptional organizational, analytical and problem-solving skills, with a proven ability to manage multiple projects, meet tight deadlines and perform effectively under pressure. 
• Willingness and ability to travel occasionally for staff retreats, trainings or other required events.

This job is full time and includes benefits. This role is open to remote candidates, but preference will be given to applicants located in or willing to relocate to the New York City or Washington, D.C., areas. Applicants must be eligible to work in the U.S.

The expected salary range for this position is $150,000 to $170,000.

This is a good-faith estimate of what we expect to pay for this position. The final salary figure will take into account a person’s experience, accomplishment and location. ProPublica is committed to paying its staff equitably, and these ranges should not be considered career salary limits or caps.

Questions? Send an email to talent@propublica.org. 

No phone calls, please.

While the vast majority of ProPublica’s work comes from our staff, we occasionally consider supporting ambitious accountability stories or projects from independent journalists whose ideas align with the mission of our organization.

Here’s what journalists submitting proposals should know.

We’re open to investigations that are revelatory or substantially advance what is known on a subject of importance. The investigation should have the potential to trigger needed reforms by identifying a problem, who’s responsible and what should change. It should also clearly show harm. The investigation can be rooted in a place or focus on a person, but it should illuminate an issue of broader relevance.

The best proposals have a clear hypothesis, typically based on significant reporting: They don’t wonder whether something bad is happening, they know it. Please include not only a general description of the topic, but also a sense of the anecdotes/data/documents you have gathered, what you expect to find and possible accountability stories you want to tell.

In addition, applicants should detail, as much as is possible at the outset, what an investigation will require: data work, travel, obtaining public records. It’s also important for us to know what data, documents and/or source relationships the reporter already has. Finally, we’d like to hear a bit about why you are particularly suited to do this investigation.

We will begin reviewing applications as we receive them, and aim to notify candidates regarding your proposals within two weeks of submission. Questions? Send an email to talent@propublica.org. No phone calls, please.

For those proposals we accept, we pay competitive freelance rates, including reporting expenses. Freelancers are independent contractors and will not be treated by ProPublica as employees for any purpose.

Independent contractors are responsible for paying any required taxes on any compensation received and for understanding the applicable tax laws. We will begin reviewing applications as we receive them, and aim to notify candidates regarding your proposals within two weeks of submission.